1. Technical Field
The invention relates to a method of transporting items of laundry by means of which items of laundry hanging on clip carriages by adjacent corners of one edge are transported to a treatment device, wherein the clip carriages are displaced along a rail by drivers which are moved along the rail, and wherein the clip carriages are supplied to the driver by a separating device at the start of the rail. The invention also relates to a method of measuring items of laundry, wherein the items of laundry are transported past a measuring device individually with opposite corners of one edge hanging in clip carriages which can be displaced along a rail, and to a method of measuring items of laundry, wherein the items of laundry are transported past a measuring device individually with opposite corners of one edge hanging beneath clip carriages. Finally, the invention relates to an apparatus for transporting items of laundry by means of which items of laundry hanging on clip carriages by adjacent corners of one edge are transported to a treatment device, having a feed conveyor with a rail, and having a downstream rail, along which the clip carriages can be moved, and having a separating device at the end of the rail of the feed conveyor.
2. Prior Art
Items of laundry such as so-called flat linen, but also items of clothing, are fed to a treatment device in a state in which they hang on two individual clip carriages by two adjacent corners of one edge or of one periphery. The items of laundry are preferably stored on an interim basis upstream of the treatment device. This interim storage takes place with the items of laundry sorted in storage sections of a store, that is to say the items of laundry are stored on an interim basis in a state in which they are separated according to type. The items of laundry are preferably sorted according to type, for example as covers, bed sheets, pillow cases, table cloths or the like, but possibly also as overalls, shirts, trousers or the like.
In the case of known methods and apparatuses of this kind, the clip carriages are introduced individually into an advancing catch conveyor, this operation being time-consuming. Moreover, the operation of measuring the items of laundry, which is necessary for sorting purposes, is incomplete in the case of known methods and apparatuses.